


Tattoos

by nicoleiacross



Series: Road to Recovery [2]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Headcanon, M/M, Mild Language, Protective Michael, Supernatural AU: Gabriel Lives
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-26
Updated: 2013-04-26
Packaged: 2017-12-09 13:25:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,029
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/774718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nicoleiacross/pseuds/nicoleiacross
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>[Collection of short, vaguely connected one-shots] Michael and Adam try to adjust to life outside of the Cage after five years. Some things are easy; others, not so much. [Heavily AU, also featuring a living!Gabriel and sane!Cas. Rated for trigger content]</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tattoos

**Author's Note:**

> Canon-divergent Alternate Universe  
> Gabriel's alive; Michael and Adam were sprung from the Cage; Lucifer's back to being King of Hell; and, Cas didn't go batshit with Leviathans.  
> Michael has a separate vessel from Adam:  
> -applying headcanon that Archangels are capable of manifesting their own vessels, at the expenditure of a good deal of their own Grace. (on note: headcanon image for Michael is still Zachary Quinto)  
> ...Uh. Nothing else to add. Just migrating this here from my tumblr/ff.net;;;
> 
> chapter specific warnings: implied, past self-harm if you squint.

The first thing they do (after they  _finally_  take him off suicide watch, which was  _stupid as Hell_  to begin with), is tell him they're getting him a tattoo.

Adam blinks at his half-brothers a few times, convinced that he misheard them in his still-half-asleep daze. But, judging from the way Michael suddenly looks upset and pulls him into an almost too tight grip, he'll assume he heard right. He remembers wanting to get a tattoo—just a pair of dates, just because his mother hadn't gotten a proper grave or tombstone carving—and the long-winded lecture that the Archangel had given him about defiling his body. It had been… interesting, to say the very least, and turned into a snip fest when Adam had pointed out—muttered, really—that Michael using him as a vessel was enough of a defilement. (Adam's never going to tell Dean or Sam about that; they'll take it the wrong way and completely ignore if he tries to tell them that he hadn't been snapping at  _Michael_ … just at… Heaven as a whole. Maybe Zachariah, but not Michael.)

At any rate, that was when they first met and when Adam was still reeling from… things he shouldn't be thinking about right now, if the way Michael goes from clinging to holding his wrists in a much more delicate manner is any indication. Still, he finally shakes his head and gives Dean a pointed look, one that says he's not amused by their idea of a joke.

"Seriously? Guys. What makes you think I even  _want_  a tattoo?"

"Don't be a smart ass—"

"Dean." Sam gives the oldest that  _look_  (the kicked puppy, 'let me handle this, please' look), before turning a much more reassuring, if not worried, look on Adam, "It's just a precaution, Adam. Anti-possession symbol—"

Michael suddenly snarls at the two older brothers and, if Adam weren't startled by the sudden violence coming from his Archangel, he might be amused. Instead, he turns to shushing Michael and bats at him until he finally stops snapping threats in Enochian… well… until he finally stops making the house shake, at any rate. He's still muttering the threats under his breath and—if the expression on Castiel and Gabriel's faces are anything to go by—they're only getting more creative and  _much more_  explicit. Adam shakes his head, lets Gabriel handle it (though, the other Archangel looks absolutely terrified when he inches forward to pull his older brother a bit ways off in an attempt to calm him down; they don't go far. Just enough that Adam has to stretch his arm back a little so Michael still has a grip on his wrist), and quirks a brow at the Winchesters, "So…what's a whatever you said? And why do I want it?"

Sam's watching Gabriel and Michael now—quite specifically, he actually looks terrified of the thought of Michael ripping Gabriel apart… and Adam doesn't particularly blame him—and Dean still looks more than a little alarmed by the outburst. Castiel shakes his head and picks up for them, almost too easily, "It's a simple symbol, just to ensure there is no demonic possession in your foreseeable future. Dean and Sam have already had their symbols marked into their skin, it  _would_  make sense for you to get one as well." He shifts his eyes to Michael and Gabriel, adding in a much quieter voice (as though he's afraid of incurring his oldest brother's wrath, which  _he should be_ ), "We cannot always be here to protect the three of you."

Adam gives Michael's hand a sharp tug when he tries to turn on the younger angel (mostly because of the odd angle it catches his own arm) and shakes his head a bit when the Archangel is so easily distracted and goes back to clinging.

"Ok. So—ow, Mike, loosen up. I'm not going anywhere," He batters his angel, absently and tries not to smile when it earns him an insistent, muffled whine against his neck. He does, however, give in to smirking in amusement when Sam looks moderately disturbed and Dean looks like he wants to _try_ banishing Michael, "Anyways. Why can't they just do some weird angel mojo bullshit like when  _someone_  decided that branding my ribs was a good idea as soon as I came back to life?"

Castiel flinches, quite visibly, and Adam can only assume that Michael's glaring at him. He bites back to sigh and batters the Archangel again, " _Michael_."

"We  _could_ ," He finally concedes after a moment longer. He sounds annoyed when he presses back into Adam's neck, "But… they may be correct. At the very least, the… tattoo would be considerably less painful."

"Wait, you guys could have anti-possession branded us?" Dean's eye twitches and he scowls when Gabriel gives a dry laugh. Castiel looks uncomfortable and refuses to meet anyone's gaze—especially Dean and Michael's. (If Adam were in a worse mood, he might bite out a mocking comment at the angel; but, he supposes it's enough watching him writhe under the glares.)

"Anti-possession symbol straight-up means a demon can't possess you," Gabriel starts and dares to fluff Adam's hair up when he walks by (Michael promptly snarls at him; Adam just scowls) to jump onto his usual perch next to Cas, "An Enochian ward would… ah… how would we explain this. Mike, help me out here, you were always better at scaring the crap out of people."

Michael gives him an annoyed look and rolls his eyes, "In the simplest terms, it's like a human immunization shot. The demon still gets in, but as soon as they are, the sigils will trap them and repel or, ultimately, exorcise them, while using the vessel as a living Devil's Trap. It's a rather extreme method that none of us are particularly partial to."

And, as interested as Adam might be, that  _doesn't_  sound remotely fun. So, he nods and—after a while longer of having to convince Michael that 'No, Mike, you aren't going; you and Gabriel and Cas are going to  _stay the fuck here_.'—finally lets Dean and Sam drag him into town.


End file.
